These are rosebuds from my climbing rose,which is now as tall as the house is. It blooms but once a year, with hundreds of fragrant pink blossoms. I was trying out the 80-400 VR lens with a 20mm Kenko extension tube, and to my delight, this tube preserves the Vibration Reduction feature of the lens,and for some reason,I had just assumed it would not!
This little spider web marks the spot where I suspect the very first roses will bloom! Since the 80-400 only focuses down to about eight feet, an extension tube is a real boon for doing very close-up shots,at up to 400mm focal lengths,which on a 1.5x body,is like having a 600mm lens that focuses down to well under eight feet....pretty much unheard of. Now that I realize the Kenko AF extension tubes preserve VR with this lens,I think I'll start looking for more opprtunities to use the 80-400 as a closeup lens! At 80mm setting,the lens focuses down to a measured 22 inches with the 20mm tube. At 135mm it focuses to about 38 inches,and spans left to right an area about 4 and a quarter inches with the camera in horizontal mode. TO answer Lisa's question, this was hand held and no tripod was with me.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photo-themes/25929-load-bokeh-77.html


http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photo-themes/25929-load-bokeh-77.html